Memorial Day (One soldiers story)
On this Memorial Day I would like to tell you about my father.
Robert Collier was born in Brooklyn NY and attended a Roman Catholic School. In order to get to that school he had to transverse 3 different neighborhoods of which each spoke a different language. By the time he was 17 he spoke English, German, Italian and Polish along with some Latin and Russian.
Upon Graduating from High School he was inducted into the US Army served in the Pacific Theater and came stateside to to continue his career at an Army base in Texas. He volunteered for the Korean War, was injured and returned to the US. During theCold War he posed as a clerk at an East German hotel, sending information back to the US.
Robert adopted me when I was 2 years old, having met my mother in Frankfurt and after I had lost my birth father.
In 1961 when we were officially not in Vietnam, my father was sent there. He was hit by sniper fire, seriously wounded and seperated from the military. This injury gave him high blood pressure and caused him to have two strokes and then a fatal heart attack a week before Christmas when I was 7 years old.
His story is not unique, there are so many others who were killed or injured in the prime of their life. Leaving behind loved ones. All my life I have wondered what it would have been like to ave a father at those major milestones. I am not alone, there are thousands of children all over the world who were orphaned or half orphaned.
I want to thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice to serve our nation. I also want to remember for all those who have lost their loved one "what might have been"
May we continually work for peace so this does not have to happen!
Happy Memorial Day!!
Sincerely,
Michael
= new reply since forum marked as read
But he sounds like he led a remarkable life and you have every reason to be proud... Thank you for sharing him with us. 
